


My Roaring Power

by itschanged (lululele)



Category: Idol Producer - Fandom, Produce 101 (TV), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, also teeny tiny jeffrey cameo, attempted crack, fanboy zuo ye on chapter 2, pining ruibin, ruibin liking zhengting's dancing is canon!!11!!, shout out to all the ip stans out there u guys r awesome, yuehua squad cameo on chapter 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-14 01:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13583373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululele/pseuds/itschanged
Summary: Mr. Exemplary Student Zheng Ruibin, an upright young man of 21 years from the College of Performing Arts majoring in Drama, fights to keep his title against a weakness for contemporary dance(r). A college AU.





	1. It was thankfully a cold day

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hello after 3 episodes and a growing obsession over the show, here I present to you my first truly Teen and Up fic because would you just look at them both? I know Xukun/Zhengting is the Rising Power Couple™ these days but I've been liking these two for a longer time and had to somehow get this out D: More of the trainees will appear as the story progresses, and the genre is supposed to be crack, but some parts may get overly cheesy and cringy so forgive me in advance I have not written in a long time I am rusty ._.
> 
> (here's the link for zhengting's performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bEil3pZ8wM)

If Ruibin had anything to thank, it would be his tendency to seek out empty staircases. Now that might sound a little sketchy coming from a college student, but mind you, Exemplary Student Zheng wouldn’t be caught dead carrying out illicit activities on campus grounds. Which was where he was currently stepping on.

He had just landed a role on a small musical gig, and this particular staircase to the west of the old performing arts building produced confidence-boosting echo second only to his shower. It also helped that the space was mostly deserted, abandoned for the shiny, fairly new elevators installed on both sides of the building.

So there he was, climbing the stairs while memorising lyrics and weighing the options of third (better resonance) or fourth (lesser risk of being seen) storey, when a blur of white and black flashed across his peripheral vision. Rightfully surprised, he took a couple steps up to get a better view and was greeted by the backside of a Y-shaped person, who was slowly turning into an X as he lowered his leg, slid it down the floor and spread into a split. And if his profile was enough to make Ruibin’s heart skip a beat, the full view of his face as he rotates his torso sent the organ suffering a short-lived cardiac arrest. The person stretched out his right foot, and then, using his left knee as support, leaned back the whole of his upper body into a beautiful arch. It was a prolonged move that felt too short at the same time, because before Ruibin could gather the air back in his lungs, he let himself fall to the ground and kicked up into a crouching position, slowly rising with his arms presenting to the sky.

Like some sort of fallen angel. Or a practitioner of human sacrifice, gifting the gods above an unsuspecting victim’s wildly beating heart. Because that was what Ruibin was, a poor unsuspecting victim who only wanted to practice his singing, but instead would be lucky not to die choking on his own saliva as the stranger locked gazes with him.

“You dance very well,” he managed to blurt out.

The compliment seemed to further startle the stranger, but he quickly shook out of post-performance trance to throw Ruibin a wide, breathy smile.

“Thank you. I, uh, didn’t think anyone was gonna be here.” His tone turned shy the more he spoke and Ruibin would be running his mouth to tell him there was nothing to be embarrassed of from his amazing routine if he wasn’t so busy thanking the deities for not making him come off as a creep.

“Me too. I like to rehearse here, nobody uses the stairs anymore so the area is mostly empty... usually,” he added, putting on a smile.

“Usually,” the stranger nodded, smile still ever-present and sweet. “Are you also a dance major? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

“Ah, no, I’m in drama, actually–”

“Zhu Zhengting! There you are. Wah, do you know how hard I looked for you? It’s almost your turn now, quick, come back to class.”

They both turned towards the voice. A guy, presumably his classmate, was beckoning a distance away, looking rather impatient.

“Okay!” he called back, then with a softer voice addressed Ruibin, bowing a little, “I’ll go first.”

Ruibin nodded back, shouting out a ‘good luck’ while they were still within hearing distance. Zhengting briefly turned around to thank him, and then he was gone.

Now alone, he heaved a sigh. Of regret, because he really wanted to talk more, but at least he had a name to put on the face, so hopefully some social media stalking and asking around would do the job. Of relief, because as much as he wanted to stare at the pretty face and drown in the smiles, the heat initially blooming across his chest had spread down to his stomach and lower, more secluded areas. All thanks to that whole chest-up-legs-down-bending-back business (did his expression have to be so erotic?).

He peered down at his crotch and thanked the weather for making him put on a coat, because no way was his physical reaction going to stay hidden if not for the extra thick layer. As he dared a glance to the toilet on the far end of the hallway, he pondered on whether wanking in the campus toilet was illicit enough to cancel his Exemplary Student title. And then berated himself for even thinking of it.

So with shame hung heavy between his legs, Ruibin shook his head and stared at the papers in his hands. Suddenly the script didn’t look so interesting anymore.


	2. It was barter, not bribery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love zuo ye
> 
> also, this fic is really self-indulgent and i don't have a good grasp of their characters yet, but i hope you guys will enjoy reading nonetheless :D

The next time Ruibin saw him, he was linking arms with an intimidatingly attractive person.

It had been a fruitless month, during which he had tried clicking on every Zhu Zhengting on weibo, took the roundabout way to get to class to pass by the dance hall, visited the staircase almost everyday, asked every single one of his college friends and still came up with nothing. It didn’t help that he didn’t have any friend in dance major, and as they seem to be living in their own exclusive world (though the same could be said for most of the majors in this school), approaching them proved to be too much of a challenge for him.

The weeks rolled by as he gradually considered the possibility of mishearing the name, or that the whole thing was simply a wild figment of his imagination. As the semester’s open house was nearing, however, there was no more time to spare for daydreaming because Zheng Ruibin was nothing if not busy.

It was a tradition for the lecturers to appoint him as part of the open house committee ever since he voluntarily signed up two times in a row in his first year. Speaking from experience, the week would be nothing short of hellish on top of his own packed schedule. Still, he chose to accept anyway because as tiring as it would be, it brought him a lot of great friendship with people he normally wouldn’t meet, with whom he would have just as much fun.

So there he was, on his third day, giving out flyers and ushering visitors inside their college’s biggest auditorium for whatever performance would be held with eyes barely open. The student to be taking over his shift was sauntering close, and once Ruibin took sight of him he gave the guy a grateful hug, pats on the back and promptly left for the backstage for a sweet, sweet nap.

He didn’t know how long he slept, but when a group of chattering voices roused him, he was feeling a lot more refreshed. He stretched, absentmindedly watching the trickle of people in costume making their way out. Right at the end, trailing behind a few steps away from the rest, was the very person he had been looking for all month long.

Ruibin almost dropped his bottled water.

He was wearing light makeup, hair boyishly styled, sporting a dark blue suit and the brightest smile ever, talking to another guy in similar clothing who looked pretty much like the textbook definition of vampires.

He couldn’t catch what they were saying, but it must’ve been something good because maybe-Zhu Zhengting was very chipper and excited and bright. And bouncy.

“He’s so cute,” Ruibin half swooned, half lamented.

“Right?” replied a voice to his right. “Although I’d usually say hot or handsome or sexy rather than cute, but cute he definitely is.”

The strain in his neck was painful, but the person responsible for his whiplash only gave him a guiltless stare. He rubbed the sore spot, confused and mildly frightened. Did this person magically appear out of nowhere or was his sleep-laden brain too dull to realise somebody was right beside him all along?

The person gave him a strangely understanding smile. “It’s okay, I won’t judge you. I’m also a fan.”

Ruibin was officially lost. “What. Are you talking about?”

“Cai Xukun, of course. The guy you just called cute? He usually wears his bangs down but today’s slicked back hair looks amazing, don’t you think? I love it, exudes his holier-than-thou attitude even more so than usual.”

Maybe the bewilderment across his face was getting too much to ignore, because the weird stranger finally paused his raving to throw him more questions.

“You do know who he is, right? Or could it be that you don’t know his name? And fell in love at the first sight? I got you bro, I can tell you all about him!”

“Hold on.” He held up a hand, speechless for a second. “Yes, I don’t know who he is, and thank you for the offer, but I wasn’t talking about him.”

All the enthusiasm fell off of his face, and Ruibin actually felt a little bad.

“Oh… So you were…”

“I was referring to the person beside him.”

“I see...”

Ruibin nodded.

“Zhu Zhengting, huh.”

And gasped.

“Yes! I thought I heard it wrong but that’s really his name right?”

“Hmm. Twenty-one years old, had been studying ballet, traditional Chinese dance and in recent years, modern dance for a total of twelve years. Currently the most well-known contemporary dancer enrolled in our school, having won a national competition, was scouted by an agent when he graduated high school and is rumoured to be signed to a pretty big agency. He’s been hanging out with Xukun pretty often lately, so I dug some info about him,” he tacked on, as if it justified being able to recite a whole wikipedia synopsis on someone who wasn’t even a public figure.

Ruibin was cautious, but also curious.

“I can help you get to know him,” he continued, suddenly whispering. “If you’d just do me a small favour.”

Had he not been spending the last five minutes listening to him, the smile on this person’s face might have looked nice and friendly. As it was now, he couldn’t help but to call it conspiratorial.

 

Bribery. It was bribery. Ruibin rubbed his palm across his face, staring at the USB stick laying conspicuously on his desk.

The ‘small favour’ turned out to be uncut, unedited recordings of the dance students’ performance. He had explained to one of the cameramen – someone from film major he happened to know – about wanting to observe the stage from the eyes of the audience, you see, because it would be his turn to perform in two days and he definitely needed to get his angles down pat, right? All the while Zuo Ye (self-proclaimed number one fanboy of Cai Xukun) was grinning and nodding beside him in support of his shoddy excuse.

That was how he obtained 52 gigabytes of raw footages from the dance showcase – shot from left, right and centre. His conscience had told him to immediately delete the files after they were successfully transferred to Zuo Ye, but the fact that he asked for them in the first place was a testament to how much strength his conscience held. Ruibin swallowed back a groan. He felt like an illegal information broker.

(He ended up replaying each video at least two times, moving the files into an obscure sub-sub-sub folder for safekeeping.)

 

He was relieved of committee duties for the day. The morning was spent on rehearsing, then a brief lunch, costume fitting and stage makeup, and a final rehearsal well into the afternoon.

Acting in front of an audience never failed to get his blood pumping. He relished the stage, the lights, donning another persona in a world separated from reality. This particular play was an original written specifically for the occasion. He was one of the main characters, the one in charge of breaking the fourth wall after the climax for a comedic moment. With the ease of a rehearsed move, he swept his eyes over the auditorium – and almost missed his next line.

In what could hopefully pass off as dramatic pause, he took a quick breath and resumed his dialogue with a subtle change of tone. Only after the play was over, which was fortunately a short while later, did he dare to look back at the audience to confirm that yes, that definitely was Zhu Zhengting he saw in the front right area, earnestly clapping.

It seemed like partaking in backstage selfies and chitchats would have to be put on hold, because he could’ve sworn they made eye-contact.

Running to the front exit, he scanned the dispersing crowd in hopes Zhengting had not made his leave yet. There was still a steady stream of people, and after a few minutes he finally spotted him. Ruibin quickly made his way over, patting his shoulder as casually as he could. Before he could offer a greeting, Zhengting lit up and swerved to face him.

“That was great! You did great up there,” he cheered. Ruibin felt himself melt a little.

“Thanks. I had no idea you’d be watching.”

Geez. His smile was very contagious.

Zhengting laughed. “I’m repaying your kindness.”

“Huh?”

He let his head duck down a fraction, gaze lowering before fluttering back up. It was a cruel move. It should have come with a warning because Ruibin was a weak-hearted sucker and shy was such an unfairly good look on Zhengting. “Thank you for the flowers,” he lilts softly.

He could not, for the life of him, remember anything to do with flowers these past few days, but thought it better to refrain from voicing his confusion.

“…yeah, of course. I mean, no problem, totally. Haha-ha.”

A little chuckle in reply, then Zhengting was biting his lip. “I said to repay your kindness, but I came empty handed today…”

Again, he was peering at Ruibin, this time with a sheepish look that was somehow – dare he say – a little flirty?

And Ruibin was never one to miss an opportunity.

“Well… There is something you could give me, if you don’t mind.”

 

He let out a victory cry once the door to his room closed.

Not only did he manage to get Zhengting’s number, they had also become mutual followers on weibo. They even took a picture together.

After spending some time giggling at the phone cradled in his hands, Ruibin remembered something.

_what did you do_

_ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: what_

_flowers_

_ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: oh_

 _ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: bought a bouquet and gave it to zzt_

 _ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: told him it was from u_

 _ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: said ‘zheng ruibin from drama asked me to pass this to you, he said your performance was really good’_

_WHAT_

_ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: oh and me and xukun exchanged a look for a sec i immediately looked away but hihihi he was so handsome ^q^_

_WHAT EVEN_

_did you really do that???_

_the flowers i mean not the xukun thing that sounds believable_

_ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: i also told him today’s your turn for the showcase, and that you’d be thrilled if he could come and watch your play_

_WhAT_

_WHAY_

_WHAT_

_ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: did it work_

 _ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: it worked right_

 _ZY_ _♥_ _CXK: he must’ve came_

_..._

_yes_

_thank you_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another day, another strike on ruibin's clean record.
> 
> more importantly, thank you for the kudos folks!!! i honestly didn't think more than ten people were gonna read this lol, but it's good to know i'm not alone on this teeny tiny ship :'D (in the english speaking fandom at least cuz their tag on weibo is pretty lively)


	3. It was indeed worth it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya i just watched the latest episode and some of my picks got eliminated rip ;u;

It had been a miraculously smooth progression for almost two months; from getting to know each other to a relationship Ruibin could confidently term good friends. They texted each other almost everyday, met at least thrice a week, and, in the most recent development, went out for food on weekends. 

All in all, it was great. But Ruibin had learnt that if something were too good to be true, what followed would either be a hidden catch or incoming crisis. The latter of which he realised was about to befall him. 

Last Sunday, after a filling dinner downtown, Zhengting had asked if he would be free on the following Saturday. An automatic yes escaped him, and as promptly Zhengting handed him a ticket for the final round of a reputable dance competition. Told him he would be happy to have him be there to watch and maybe, hopefully, support and cheer for him. Ruibin had never uttered an ‘of course’ with a fuller chest. 

Fast forward a few days later, the joy he had felt upon receiving the ticket came crashing down when a classmate’s passing remark reminded him of the additional lecture happening on the same day and overlapping time as the competition. It was a compulsory class with guest speaker he remembered being excited for when announced weeks ago. 

Ruibin weighed his options. 

Killing off imaginary family members was out of the question. He had done that once in high school, and aside from the guilt, the beating he got from his parents when they found out wasn’t something he ever hoped to repeat. 

Skipping the class altogether. Knowing his lecturer, doing so would not only get his marks deducted, but also earn him silent wrath and stares of disappointment. Something he was terrible at dealing with. Oh, the woes of an exemplary student! 

Not attending the competition. The thought itself already plunged his heart down his stomach. Recalling the careful, bashful manner in which Zhengting slid the ticket across the table, chin tucked down until the very last second he flicked his eyes to glance at Ruibin with a tiny little smile – no. He couldn’t. 

He stared at his timetable, and then at the alarm saved in his phone.

_hey :)_

_do you know what turn you’d be up for on saturday?_

_Zzt: hi :D_

_Zzt: they’re going by alphabets, so I should be among the last ones_

_Zzt: why?_

_just wondering hehe_

_I know you’re practicing hard but don’t forget to rest too_

_eat well, drink a lot of water_

_get enough sleep_

_good luck!_

_Zzt: I will! hihihi_

_Zzt: thank you_ _♥_

 

 

The day had finally come. Ruibin was prepared, although not very ready. He tapped his student card and signed on the attendance sheet, choosing to sit somewhere in the middle. Taking into account the travelling time, he had about one hour of countdown to start the plan.

Forty-five minutes into the lecture, he rummaged around his bag for a small ziplock and winced when his fingers accidentally mashed the content. Discreetly slipping it into his pencil case, he exhaled and waited again.

Ruibin never had any problem eating stinky tofu. He quite liked it, in fact – when deep-fried and drenched in garlic-chilli sauce. But boiled stinky tofu without any kind of additional condiment is a whole other separate matter. Call him a wuss, wimp, or any other word; he still could not take a whiff of the fermented piece of smell-torture without wanting to barf.

Gathering the necessary courage, he opened the ziplock, inhaled as deep as he could, promptly closed it, doubled up, and retched. Loudly.

His dry heaving soon grabbed the attention of majority of the class, so he took the opportunity to dash to the toilet while making a show of slapping his hand over his mouth. After spitting out his disgust-induced saliva and thoroughly gargling, he washed his face for good measure. One of his classmates was hovering unsurely around the doorway when he raised his head.

“You okay?”

“I’m not-” a burp “-feeling too great.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Uh, do you–”

“Actually, can you help me call a cab please?” he croaked, wiping his forehead.

“Sure, I’ll go get your stuff too. Wait here.”

“Thanks Jeffrey.”

Ruibin waved weakly at his retreating back, genuinely thankful for the help he’d unsuspectingly lent. He made a mental note to treat Jeffrey to a meal if all went well today.

 

 

With heart pounding from exertion, he walked to his allocated seat. Zhengting had stopped replying to his messages five minutes ago, at which point he decided to ditch the cab stuck in traffic and ran to the venue. He sank into his seat in relief when the name of the next competitor was called.

Two other participants, and then it was Zhengting’s turn. Ruibin was somehow even more nervous for this than for his own public plays.

There was, however, nothing to worry about. It didn’t matter how many times he’d seen him dancing. Zhengting never failed to take his breath away. When he moved, he was inexplicably captivating. It was the look in his eyes, the strength in his back. The poise, flowing from his fingertips down to his pointed toes. Power and grace, oozing from the entirety of his being.

He roused up and clapped, his palms electric with energy, voice joining the round of applause for the man in the spotlight. Zhengting bowed, giving his audience a heartfelt smile. Ruibin was so, so happy for him.

Pride bloomed within him and stayed long after the noise died down. It settled, then simmered with each of the steps he took. His feet whisked him forward with a single purpose in mind.

Zhengting was relatively easy to find amidst the clusters of crowd, standing in his all-white attire and talking to a small group of people. His words were cut off when he spotted Ruibin, instantly replaced by a blinding grin. He lifted his hands to jiggle the trophy and flowers by the sides of his head, feet bouncing, and Ruibin could not hold back the urge to hug him.

It was an impulsive move, but he thanked his reflex as a pair of arms circled around his shoulders. He patted and stroked Zhengting's back. "Congratulations. You were amazing."

He felt the warmth of Zhengting's soft chuckle and thanks on his ear, and couldn't help his own smile from widening.

Zhengting leaned back without breaking the embrace. Nobody spoke for a while. Ruibin was content just staring at him, taking in his radiance, hands comfortably settling on his waist and the small of his back.

In the background someone cleared their throat, prompting another to nudge them quiet with an elbow, which bloomed into a full-blown jostling session too difficult to ignore as more parties got involved.

Zhengting slipped away from his arms, turning to give them a look, and they immediately shuffled back into position. It would've been a funny sight if Ruibin wasn't lamenting the loss of body contact.

The people now standing in a line were familiar faces, ones he often saw loitering around Zhengting's weibo. The yoyo player, hip-hop dancer, minion-loving guy, chubby-cheeked blonde kid and two guys with English names he recognised had matching icons with Zhengting.

"These are my friends," he told Ruibin as they tentatively nodded at him in greetings. “And this is–”

“Zheng Ruibin. Oh we know alright,” one of them said, and a few sniggered in response. The rest quickly looked away, as if the slightest eye contact with Zhengting would burn them down to ashes. On a second look, though, it was really only a poor attempt at hiding the grins threatening to break out on their faces.

“Justin.” That, Ruibin could tell, was a warning. This Justin guy apparently didn’t think so.

“He’s handsome. Looks better than the photos.” He proceeded to scan Ruibin from head to toe, flicked his eyes back up to Zhengting, and smirked. “Good catch,” praised him, patting Zhengting’s shoulder while nodding.

If the other guys weren’t faster in dragging him away, Ruibin could bet Zhengting was going to grab him by the back of his collar.

They made a hasty retreat and bid goodbyes, all the while Justin cackled about ‘lonely old man finally finding someone’. When they were out of sight, Ruibin peeked to his right. Zhengting was equal measures exasperated, incredulous and horrified. It was kind of really cute.

“So…”

Abruptly, he spat out, “Sorry about that! They’re usually good kids, just, they can be a little rowdy. Hahah! They goof around a lot, don’t take them seriously!”

Lucky for Ruibin, he had much more experience in concealing his amusement than Zhengting’s group of friends. That, and faking a little disappointment. “You don’t think I’m handsome?”

“No–you are… of course.” He lowers his face, embarrassment clearly written across it. Ruibin wanted to take pity on him, but thought a little more teasing wouldn’t hurt.

“Hmm. Let’s say a handsome guy wants to take you out to dinner tonight, would you agree to come along?”

Zhengting shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

Ruibin raised his eyebrows, act thrown out of the window, mind already reeling thinking he might’ve gotten overconfident when Zhenting continued after a breath’s pause.

“There’s this really awesome, super handsome guy that I’ve been spending my weekends with.” He glanced at Ruibin and bit back a smile. “I really enjoy his company, you see, so just any handsome guy wouldn’t do.”

Ruibin rubbed a hand over his face, grinning at himself. He really got him just now.

“My treat?” he offered, “Please don’t refuse. Consider it a congratulatory present.”

Zhengting pretended to think, tapping a finger on his chin. He shrugged dramatically. “Alright, if you must insist. But I’m buying the dessert.”

“Then I’ll make sure you’d be too full to even think of dessert,” Ruibin quipped. He received a pointed stare and playful smile.

“Challenge accepted.”

As he leaned on a pillar, scrolling through his phone to scourge out restaurants while waiting for Zhengting to change, a fleeting voice concluded that skipping the lecture was indeed the right decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is it for now :D i originally planned to write 4 chapters but i felt like it wraps up better like this, and i have other fics to write lol, but i'm a very impulsive person so the possibility of this getting a continuation is still there! if only... they just... have a bit more interaction sobs i haven't lost hope the ip gods pls grant my wish and put them in the same team at least once!!1!!!111  
> thanks for everyone who has given this story kudos and comments, they're very much appreciated and make me really happy :'D i really love you all <333 may your picks be happy and healthy and survive the next round of eliminations! ;****

**Author's Note:**

> if you've managed to read until the end without closing the tab (thank u!!) the inspiration to write for them has been kicking ever since I found out Ruibin liked a weibo post of Zhenting dancing before idol producer even started ;;;; yes I know my standard for shipping is low that's a cheap moment but hey I'm weak. The title comes from Ruibin's introduction video (watch it!) and if you haven't already then pls check him out :D He's toll and suave and handsome and sings so well, had a bomb-ass first ranking performance (should've gotten an A, shouldn't have been montaged, etc etc) and did really well in his first group mission! (vocals!) This has been a public service announcement, and thank you for reading ;***


End file.
